The Very Best of Chic

by Chic

Overview

With Chic, Nile Rodgers and the late Bernard Edwards took the audacious energy of late '70s soul and gave it a champagne edge, bringing to it a sense of elegance and smooth sophistication. Chic's sound was built around Rodgers's scratchy guitar riffs and Edwards's pointed bass lines, with drummer Tony Thompson and vocalists Alfa Anderson and Luci Martin filling out the mix. This was music you could dance to, but it was proudly cool and detached, more about shaking your rump a little than losing yourself in a cathartic blast of rhythmic ecstasy. Most of the songs on this 13-track collection, including "Dance, Dance, Dance," "Le Freak," "Everybody Dance," and "Good Times," are emblematic of the disco era, but more because of the music's class orientation than its excess. Chic's role in the evolution of pop went one step further when "Good Times" was used by the Sugarhill Gang as the instrumental basis for "Rapper's Delight," the first major rap hit. Rodgers also went on to produce hits for Diana Ross, Madonna, the Rolling Stones, and David Bowie.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/03/2007
Label:	Imports
UPC:	0081227982126
catalogNumber:	875015
Rank:	21491

Tracks

1. Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)
2. Everybody Dance
3. Le Freak
4. I Want Your Love
5. Good Times
6. My Forbidden Lover
7. What About Me
8. My Feet Keep Dancing
9. Rebels Are We
10. Real People
11. Stage Fright
12. Just out of Reach
13. Soup for ONe

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Chic   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Bernard Edwards   Producer
Nile Rodgers   Producer
Hugh Brown   Art Direction
Barry Alfonso   Liner Notes
Paul Canty   Cover Photo
Shawn Amos   Editorial Coordinator

Editorial Reviews

To the rock critics who dismissed Chic's music as disposable and mindless back in the late '70s: it might seem like a stretch to say that Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards had as great an impact as Gamble & Huff, George Clinton, and the folks at Stax Records. But in fact, Chic's music was that influential -- and its disco/funk/soul innovations would be having an impact long after the '70s ended. From Madonna, Change, and Queen, to Duran Duran, Soul II Soul, and ABC -- new wave, hip-hop, house, European Hi-NRG, Latin freestyle, and acid jazz -- you could write a book about all the artists who have been influenced by Chic. This collection, which came out in 2000 and spans 1977-1982, is full of grooves that prove to be anything but disposable. Most of Chic's essential hits are provided, including "Good Times," "Le Freak," "Dance, Dance, Dance," "I Want Your Love," and "Everybody Dance." Less than essential, but still likable and decent, are early '80s recordings such as "Rebels Are We" from Real People, and "Stage Fright" from Take It Off. By 1980, Chic wasn't having as many hits and was feeling the sting of the death-to-disco movement. But disco never really died -- it simply changed its name to dance music and evolved into such forms as Hi-NRG, Latin freestyle and house. When that happened, Chic's long-lasting influence was impossible to miss -- you could say that Chic's influence lasted a lot longer than Chic itself. For those who need a concise introduction to Chic's legacy and want to hear some of R&B's most influential grooves, The Very Best of Chic is highly recommended.

All Music Guide - Alex Henderson